Unsuccessful gambler 'Dollar Bill' Burton lives in a crummy New York basement room with old friend Bob and a new roommate, friendly blues singer 'Alabama' Lee. But, tired of being broke, Dollar Bill gets more steady employment...doing illegal errands for gangster Bad Boy George. The now prosperous Bill ignores pretty, adoring Etta and takes up with sultry singer Regina. Will Bill's way of life catch up with him? Will his upright friends be more successful in the end?

A small southern town has just been rocked by a tragedy: a young white woman has been raped by a black man. When young black man Garth witnesses the Ku Klux Klan's violent retaliation against his innocent friend, Garth declares a one-man war on the Klan and hunts them down one-by-one.